Facial recognition will be an integral part of the Singapore national ID, called the National Digital Identity (NDI) program, set to be completed in 2020. It will be the centralized biometric authenticator that will be used across both government and private sector applications. In the future other biometrics may be used as well.

In the future, your identity can be provisioned in different types and forms, be it smart cards or in future, wearables

According to a GovInsider Asia report, software development kits will be provided to industries like banking and finance, so that companies can connect their services to the nation’s centralized biometric platform. “Our goal is to build a universally-trusted data ecosystem,” said Kwok Quek Sin, Senior Director of NDI from the Government Technology Agency. “In the future, your identity can be provisioned in different types and forms, be it smart cards or in future, wearables … We intend to issue NDI free for all citizens.”

Easing the biometric enrollment process and ensuring that a single enrollment by an individual makes them eligible for a host of public and private services is key to the effort.

The NDI program builds upon previous Government Technology Agency projects in Singapore including SingPass, which enables access to digital services from some 60 government agencies via a single password, and MyInfo, which uses digital vault technology to pre-fill online forms for government and private-sector services.